Inside LA’s Pandemic-Induced Underground Gym Scene

As COVID-19 closures keep their sanctuaries on lockdown, Los Angeles’s trainers and gym rats are finding new ways to get their fix.

Fitness is about more than staying in shape for people in Los Angeles; for many, it’s fundamental to their way of life. So with gyms closed and the pandemic threatening to ruin their physiques, the L.A. gym rats and meatheads have created a loose-knit underground fitness economy consisting of makeshift garage gyms and real gyms operating in murky legal territory, workouts held in public parks, and a black market for gym equipment. “L.A. is so unique,” says Chris Benck, a 31-year-old personal trainer and former CrossFit instructor in Santa Monica. “There are so many people in this city who either run every day, or do three hours of CrossFit, or go to Gold’s Gym, and they’re finding ways to continue doing it… People here will break every rule to get back to the gym.”… READ MORE @ Esquire